But customer information, which is bought and sold routinely in the offline world, has become controversial in the online context.
The growing tendency of large corporations and governments -- and now, even law schools -- to use their powers to suppress legitimate protected speech and intimidate critics in the online context represents a significant threat to free speech (news article, May 6).
And while no luxury brand would ever invite a discounter to partner in a bricks-and-mortar operation, one might do it in an online context, if the discounter was offering the very things the brands lacked: the technology to smoothly handle the tremendous complexity of running an online store.
But customer data like names and addresses, which are bought and sold routinely in the offline world, have become controversial in the online context, as beleaguered Internet companies and their bankruptcy lawyers contemplate which assets they can put on the auction block.
It's clear, however, that the online context – where attention spans are short, and where the audience tends to be younger – is more forgiving of broad, quick-hit comedy, which can look pretty attenuated across a long-form hour on the Edinburgh fringe.
Such discussions predominantly revolved around the online context – particularly social networks.
